Some of the greatest poetry of the last 60 years has been written as song lyrics and Tuesday is the day I focus on those lyrics and the artists who write them.

Townes Van Zandt was a singer/songwriter from Texas who was always incorrectly marketed as a Country Music artist. While Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and dozens of other great songwriters of his era are now household names, Van Zandt has never received the attention and popularity he deserved. The only Van Zandt composition to receive national popularity was Willie Nelson’s cover of “Pancho and Lefty.” As a songwriter, Van Zandt focused his attention on poignant tales of common people dealing with the common struggles of all humans, such as love, loss, death, and pain. His songs can make you feel the beauty of love and then immediately tear your heart out with grief. He was a master lyricist, and those lucky enough to discover him during their lifetime know that they can always turn to his music for comfort in troubled times.

I have selected his songs “Tecumseh Valley” (1969), “Waiting Around To Die” (1969), “Rake” (1970), and “To Live is To Fly” (1971) to best showcase his lyrics.

Tecumseh Valley

The name she gave was Caroline
Daughter of a miner
And her ways were free
And it seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

She come from Spencer
Across the hill
She said her pa had sent her
’cause the coal was low
And soon the snow
Would turn the skies to winter

She said she’d come
To look for work
She was not seeking favors
And for a dime a day
And a place to stay
She’d turn those hands to labor

But the times were hard, Lord,
And the jobs were few
All through Tecumseh valley
But she asked around
And a job she found
Tending bar at Gypsy Sally’s

She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied
Her pa had died
The word come down from Spencer

So she turned to whorin’ out on the streets
With all the lust inside her
And it was many a man
Returned again
To lay himself beside her

They found her down beneath the stairs
That led to Gypsy Sally’s
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well
Tecumseh valley

The name she gave was Caroline
The daughter of a miner
And her ways were free
And it seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

Waiting Around to Die

Sometimes I don’t know where
This dirty road is takin’ me
Sometimes I don’t even know the reason why
But I guess I’ll keep a-gamblin’
Lots of booze and lots of ramblin’
Well it’s easier than just awaitin’ ’round to die

Oh one time, friends, I had a ma
I even had a pa
Well he beat her with a belt once ’cause she cried
She told him to take care of me
Headed down to Tennessee
Well it’s easier than just awaitin’ ’round to die

I came of age and I found a girl
In a Tuscaloosa bar
Oh she cleaned me out and hit it on the sly
Well I tried to kill the pain, I bought some wine
And hopped a train
Seemed easier than just awaitin’ ’round to die

Then a friend said he knew
Where some easy money was
We robbed a man, and brother did we fly
But the posse caught up with me
And drug me back to Muskogee
And it’s two long years of waitin’ ’round to die

Aw, but now I’m out of prison
I got me a friend at last
He don’t drink or steal or cheat or lie
Aw his name is codeine
And he’s the nicest thing I’ve seen
Well together we’re gonna wait around and die
Yeah together we’re gonna wait around and die

Rake

Well, I used to wake and run with the moon
I lived like a rake and a young man
I covered my lovers with flowers and wounds
My laughter the devil would frighten

The sun she would come and beat me back down
But every cruel day had it’s nightfall
I’d welcome the stars with wine and guitars
Full of fire and forgetful

Well, my body was sharp, the dark air clean
And outrage my joyful companion
And whisperin’ women how sweet did they seem
Kneelin’ for me to command them

And time was like water but I was the sea
I wouldn’t of noticed it passin’
Except for the turnin’ of night into day
And the turnin’ of day into cursin’

Well, you look at me now, don’t think I don’t know
What all your eyes are a-sayin’
Does he want us to believe these ravings and lies
They’re just tricks that his brain’s been a playin’?

A lover of women he can’t hardly stand
He trembles, he’s bent, and he’s broken
I’ve fallen, it’s true but I say to you
Hold your tongues until after I’ve spoken

I was takin’ my pride in the pleasures I’d known
I laughed and said I’ll be forgiven
But my laughter turned ’round eyes blazing and said
My friend, we’re holdin’ a wedding

I buried my face but it spoke once again
The night to the day we’re a bindin’
And now the dark air is like fire on my skin
And even the moonlight is blinding
Now the dark air is like fire on my skin
And even the moonlight is blinding

To Live Is To Fly

Won’t say I love you, babe,
Won’t say I need you, babe,
But I’m gonna get you babe
And I will not do you wrong.
Living’s mostly wasting time
And I’ll waste my share of mine
But it never feels too good,
So let’s don’t take too long.
Well you’re soft as glass
And I’m a gentle man
We got the sky to talk about
And the world to lie upon.
Days, up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don’t turn none away.
Everything is not enough
And nothin’ is too much to bear.
Where you been is good and gone
All you keep’s the gettin’ there.
Well, to live is to fly
All low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.
It’s goodbye to all my friends
It’s time to go again
Think of all the poetry
And the pickin’ down the line
Well, I’ll miss the system here
The bottom’s low
And the treble’s clear
But it don’t pay to think too much
On things you leave behind.
Well I may be gone
But it won’t be long
I’ll be a’bringin’ back the melody
And rhythm that I find.
We all got holes to fill
And them holes are all that’s real.
Some fall on you like a storm,
Sometimes you dig your own.
The choice is yours to make,
And time is yours to take
Some dive into the sea,
Some toil upon the stone.
Well, to live is to fly
All low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes
Shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes

• Lyrical Tuesday